


Visitation

by wasserplane



Category: Spider-Man (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Father-Son Relationship, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-10-28 19:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17793740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasserplane/pseuds/wasserplane
Summary: After the events of Spider-Man (PS4), Peter Parker visits a friend that had been put away in Riker's, and gets more than he could've hoped for.Kind of a fix-it for the ending of the 2018 game. Contains spoilers for the whole game. Focusing on the friendship/father-son relationship between Otto Octavius and Peter.





	1. First visit

Peter Parker wasn't completely sure he was actually going to go until his foot stepped into the complex. Into Riker's.

He hadn’t been able to visit right away. He had to file visitation paperwork, and besides that—it had taken a while to process what had happened--everything, what happened with May, what happened with Miles, what happened to Harry.

And what happened with...

Well.

Peter follows the guard, taking a note of the guy's stiff posture. It felt weird to be the one protected, for once. It felt weird to be here, as Peter. He felt comfortably invisible, as if he was be a nobody to these people.

All these people that wanted him dead. Hah. 

And, one person that could make it happen. And almost did.

"You have ten minutes." the guard says curtly, pointing at a wall lined with telephones. Devices to talk to the inmates. Peter gives a polite nod, and walks over, glancing around.

He's not even sure if the Doc was going to show up. What if he didn't? That would be kind of funny, like he was stood up on a date. But, less sad. And, kind of a relief. If Otto didn't show up, then it meant that things were really over. It would be closure, in a sense.

He couldn't decide which outcome he wished for more. Or, maybe he was just telling himself that to avoid disappointment.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wonder long. He sits up straight as the door on the other side of the wall opens, and out walked Peter's old boss—Otto Octavius, and the latest person to wreck the good city of New York.

Peter tries to get a good look at him--did he look better? Did he look worse? Was he well? Tired? Angry? He makes a note to ask Otto if they offer them therapy there. It’s not the biggest surprise that Otto’s face twists up at the sight of him. Peter expected that. He expects to be yelled at, or something. Honestly, it would be kind of relieving. It would be better than the last impression the Doc had given him—that scream that still haunted Peter, but he couldn’t let himself regret any actions. He made the right choice, or, at least the one he believed to be the right choice.

Octavius slides down into the chair and takes a nice minute to just glare at Peter. Peter meets his gaze, with an small smile, but it does sting quite a bit to see that look from his friend’s face. There’s a moment, before they both pick up the phones.

“Peter.” he says slowly, his voice dripping hatred. “Come to taunt me?” Otto spits, leaning on the counter. “I bet you must enjoy seeing me locked up here.”

Peter sighs. “I don’t.” he says. Not that he expects to be listened to.

Otto narrows his eyes. “Then, what? Come to make sure I’m keeping your _secret_?”

Peter frowns. At this point, he thought he had made it clear—that was all in Otto’s hands. He wasn’t going to bow to any blackmail. Still, since the Doc brought it up…

“Are you?” Peter asks, genuinely curious. “I just wanna know, so I can warn the delivery guy next time I order pizza.” he says with a small smirk. Fuck, totally inappropriate. But, the image was pretty funny. Not that he even had a place to order pizza to.

Otto shoots Peter a sharp look, before looking away for a moment. “…No.” he says, his voice loosing the sharp edge for a moment. “But not for you. For… your family. May deserves better.”

What? Peter stares, looking like he was slapped in the face. _He didn’t know about May_. “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” he says with a dry laugh, avoiding meeting Octavius’ eyes.

Otto narrows his eyes. What did that mean? He can’t tell what the boy was thinking. Peter always looked slightly amused, even in the face of terrible things. At first, Otto had thought it was the boy’s endless optimism, but at this point, he’s certain it’s Peter’s way of coping.

Peter keeps his eyes fixated on the corner of the window. He didn’t want to talk about that with Octavius. He’s not sure there’s a way to bring it up without somebody getting upset. Probably him. He wasn’t there to point any fingers at Otto—he was there to talk with him a bit, and make sure he was getting help.

Speaking of which.

“Are you getting help?” Peter asks.

Otto scoffs. “What little help I can, from those idiots that call themselves doctors? I know more than they do, and I’m not even a medical doctor.” he says. “At least they listen to me about my own body.” Most doctors didn’t.

“Really? They should put you on the payroll, then.” Peter jokes, before wincing. Again, inappropriate. He wouldn’t feel like he had to lighten the mood so much if this wasn’t one of the weirdest conversations he’s ever had. There’s a moment where it almost feels familiar—back to moments in the lab where it’s just him and Otto, talking while working on various projects. 

But, it’s also completely different. For obvious reasons.

Surprisingly, Otto doesn’t shoot Peter another glare. “They should.” he says, rolling his eyes. It’s hard not to feel as though things were back to normal. Not that he hadn’t been thinking about how much he hated Peter, but the moment that Parker actually sat down and talked with him…

It was nice. He didn’t really get to talk with anyone since he had been put in Riker’s. He was lonely, and incredibly bored.

“Are you getting… uh, the other kind of help?” Peter asks. “Y’know. Therapy, or some kind of counseling?”

Otto’s expression instantly melts into another glare. “I don’t need that.” he says sharply.

“I just think it would help—“

“I said _no_ , Peter.” Octavius says, with a tone of finality. It made Peter slightly nostalgic for the days when Doc was his boss. “What can a therapist tell me that I couldn’t just think, myself?”

“You’d be surprised.” Peter says with a shrug. 

“Have _you_ gone to therapy?” Otto asks. He had meant for it to be a biting question, but admittedly, he was genuinely curious. Has Spiderman himself had therapy? Spiderman had been in New York City for eight years. Octavius had done the math the moment he’d seen the suit—Parker must’ve started being Spiderman at fifteen. _Fifteen_! It gave Octavius all the more respect for how optimistic Parker was. At least, for a while, it did.

“Well,” Peter says slowly, his gaze drifting away. How could he? What would he do, tell the therapist that he’s Spiderman? Besides, he didn’t have the money for it. “No. Not really. But, y’know, I’m alright.”

Otto stares, slightly jealous. He _did_ seem alright. Kids really could recover from anything. “Besides. They only offer group therapy, here.” he says, folding his arms.

Peter looks up at the Doc, eyes wide. Really? Well, shit. That kind of sucks. Maybe he could talk to Yuri to arrange something. Would she think it’s weird he wants to help out an ex-supervillain? Eh, maybe. But, what was so wrong with that? “Maybe… I could get something arranged?”

Doc raises his eyebrows. “Abusing your power, Peter?” he says, and to Peter his tone sounds like a strange mix between accusatory and teasing—before Peter catches the harsh look. Nope, definitely just accusatory. 

The boy rubs the back of his neck. “No, just… asking for help.” he says. He wonders if the guards were listening in. How suspicious was this conversation? “If I do, will you go? Just one session, to see if it helps?”

Doc stares, his expression unreadable.

“Time’s up.” the guard says. 

“Please, Doc.” Peter says, his voice starting to get desperate. His motivations were slightly selfish—he wanted his friend back, of course, the man he looked up to, the man he considered a father figure—but he also, genuinely, wanted Octavius to be able to see hope, again. To be happy. 

The phones cut off. The two stare at each other for a moment.

Dr. Octavius moves his lips in an answer, and Peter can read lips well enough to see one word:

“Fine.”


	2. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of the same thing.

The second visit is only slightly less awkward.

This time, Peter doesn’t gawk as he walks into the prison—well, not too much. Maybe just a little. But, at least this time he knew what to expect. Sit down at the booth, wait for your old boss to look like he wants to kill you. Whatever. He’s dealt with way worse. Besides, at least this would prepare him for—what, for _Harry_ to be a supervillain next? Sometimes it felt like everyone he met turned into one. 

Or, maybe it was him that made people go to extremes. Sometimes he wonders if JJJ was right. Sometimes, but not for long. He really couldn’t be in this business if he doubted himself all the time. 

Alright, step one—sitting down. That one, done. He looks up, watching Octavius walk in the room, waiting for the step two—the glare.

And… still waiting. Wait, was the Doc not going to send him those hateful looks, today? No, Octavius looked almost awkward, this time. Well, Peter could relate to that. He could relate to that a lot. 

He picks up the phone. Damn, the time slot he had to talk to Octavius was way too short. If Doc ever got cleared for visits during prisoner visit hour—or however it worked—maybe they could talk longer. Oh, well. At this point, Peter’s pretty sure the Doc doesn’t want to see his face for too long, anyway.

Otto picks up the phone, as well. They stare at each other for another moment.

“How’s it going?” Peter says, since no one else was saying anything.

“Oh, as good as it can be, in prison.” Otto says sarcastically, with a shadow of a snarl. _Ah, there it is,_ Peter thinks, almost relieved.

“That’s… something.” Peter replies lamely. Wasn’t much else he could comment about that.

He thinks for a moment, trying to change the subject. There were definitely some things he wanted to ask Octavius, but it felt rude to immediately jump to them.

“Hey, I have a present for you.” he says, shooting Octavius a half-smile, although he had been trying to just send a regular, full smile. Sometimes it felt like all of his smiles were either awkward or uncomfortable. And, it looked so much worse in high school. Honestly? Thank god for the mask. 

Otto narrows his eyes. “A present?” he asks skeptically. “You can’t give me anything, here.”

Peter’s smile grows. “Nope. That’s why it’s in the lab.” he says. “Specifically, it’s… well, I uploaded it to our—uh, your cloud. The company one.” 

Octavius stares. Would Peter stop beating around the bush? “Well? What is it?” he says impatiently, incredibly curious. Was Parker still doing work for him? After all of this? 

Peter’s smile turns into a grin. He didn’t mean to tease the Doc, but it was nice to see the genuine interest. “Do you happen to remember the neural interface? Might not, it was a tiny little project.” he jokes with a small smirk. Probably inappropriate to joke about, but he couldn’t think of any other way to lead into it.

Otto’s expression instantly sours. “What did you do to it?!” he demands, standing up, and his face starting to flush red.

“Nothing!” Peter quickly says, his eyes widening. Okay, definitely inappropriate. “I mean, I did do something. I just patched up the issues it was having. Any imbalances, or flaws, I was… making sure it was working properly.” he says sincerely. “Look, I know—everyone breaks out, eventually.” And Octavius was a genius—if he wanted to break out, it would probably happen. “I just… wanted to make sure that the interface wouldn’t cause any permanent damage.” 

Otto stares. What the hell was wrong with Parker? After all of that—after Parker now knew that he was used, after he tried to kill him—more than a few times—after all that, he still was working on projects, for him?

Peter leans back. “I didn’t do anything sketchy to it. You can look over it, to check. Whenever you get out.”

“I’m not worried about that.” Octavius says immediately. No, it’s not Peter’s style to do that kind of underhand trick. “Why?”

Peter shrugs. “Like I said, everyone breaks out event—“

“Why?” Otto repeats, his tone more stern. Peter knew what question he was asking, and he wasn’t going to waste time letting Parker play dumb.

Peter goes silent for a moment. “I didn’t want it to hurt you."

Otto sneers. “How hypocritical of you.” he says.

“I mean, in a permanent way!” Peter quickly amends. “I don’t want—I know how important your mind is to you. I didn’t want that ruined, in any way.”

Otto narrows his eyes, trying to possibly parse out Parker’s real reason for this. There had to be some ulterior motive, some real reason behind this suspicious act of goodwill. But, for the life of him, he can’t think of what it could be.

“Don’t worry, I know you can’t cut me a check.” Peter says, flashing a smirk, which quickly fades.

Otto sighs. Again, with the jokes. He pauses. “I’ll inspect this when I get out. But, if you’re telling the truth…” He hesitates. “Thank you.”

Peter’s eyes widen, and he sits up straighter. Aw, he was being thanked? Honestly, he didn’t expect that, at all. 

Otto looks away. God, the boy’s endless optimism, and how much the praise affected him—did Peter really look up to him that much? After the first visit, he had time to think about what Peter said, about how he was his idol. Maybe… maybe that was true. 

“So,” Otto begins, looking away from Peter’s beaming face. Dammit, why was Parker such a good kid? It made hating Spider-man that much harder. “I suppose your new job pays you well enough that you can work on side projects like this?” he asks dryly, his expression darkening. 

Peter stares. A job? His mind goes blank for a moment, debating for what to say.

Octavius narrows his eyes, taking the silence as Parker hiding something. “Oscorp?” he guesses immediately, his expression melting into a scowl. “You are the only one with access to my research, aren’t you?” he asks, starting to sound slightly hysterical. “So? Has Oscorp offered you good money for it? I know you needed money for rent—“

“I don’t have a job.” Peter insists loudly. Otto was really starting to spiral quickly. He’s never seen it happen before, but it’s starting to make sense how he ended up with that much hate towards Norman.

“Liar.” Octavius hisses. 

Peter frowns. “I’m quitting the field completely.” he says. “No more tech. Your gift was just unfinished business.” he says, sharply. He wants to make sure that Octavius understands. “Money has _never_ mattered to me, Otto.”

Octavius narrows his eyes. There’s nothing he can say against that. He knows that Peter’s telling the truth, but he can’t help but feel defensive. He glares at Peter for a moment, before something else that Peter said finally sinks in.

“You’re quitting the field?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

Peter nods. “Yeah.” he says. “I was thinking of… maybe being a chef?” he says with a small smirk, glancing to the side. 

Otto stares for a moment. “No.” he says flatly.

“Huh?” Peter looks back at Octavius.

“No.” Otto repeats firmly. “Peter, you have a gift. You can do better things. You can help people in ways that no one else can. You have the ability—even the responsibility to do more.” He says, watching Peter’s expression fall. 

“Yeah. ‘With great power’, and all that?” Peter mumbles sarcastically, his gaze falling down to his hands. “I dunno, Doc. Maybe I don’t want to be responsible.” he says with a sigh. “For the good…” He looks back up at Otto’s face. ”And the bad.”

For the first time since the Devil’s Breath disaster, Otto Octavius feels a stab of guilt. Does Peter think _he_ made him? “You’re not responsible for anyone else’s actions.” he says sternly. “You helped me with the creation of the arm, and the interface, but don’t you _dare_ take credit for anything I’ve done with them.” 

Peter blinks. It was actually… incredibly comforting to hear that. In a strange way. It was one thing to hear it from MJ, but another to hear it from the villain himself.

“Yeah.” Peter says, his voice coming out softer than he meant. 

Otto frowns. “So, don’t use me as an excuse.” 

Peter nods. He really wanted to go back into technology. The change that Octavius had proposed when he first started working for him was still something he thought about a lot. And, he missed it. He missed working in a lab, he missed science, and he missed pushing his brain to the limit at work. Working with Octavius had been the first job when he actually felt stimulated—outside of the mask, at least.

“Where, though?” Peter asks, mostly to himself. It had been a question that was plaguing him for a while, and another reason he was wary to go back into the tech industry. “I don’t want to work at a place like Oscorp, or Alchemax.” He didn’t want to work defense contracts, or anything harmful to the environment. Which seriously limited his prospects.

Otto frowns. This situation was eerily familiar. Hadn’t that been his exact dilemma, after leaving Oscorp? “Why don’t you start your own business?” he offers, a small smirk starting to form on his face. “How does Parker Industries sound to you?”

Peter makes a face. “Horrible.” 

Otto lets out a laugh, feeling slightly relieved. He hopes that Peter never changes. “Are you sure?” he asks, his smirk getting bigger.

“Definitely.” Peter says, shaking his head. “I don’t want to…” He trails off. “Y’know. I don’t want to be a CEO or anything. I just want to help.”

Otto’s smirk fades. “You can’t follow forever, Peter.” he says.

“…I guess.” Peter says, letting out a small sigh.

The older man looks at Parker for a moment. He almost felt bad for the boy. He had so much drive, and ideas, and morals, but no ambition. Or desire to be in the limelight, at all. Maybe he had enough of it at his… _other job_. What did Parker want, then?

He frowns. “What do you want, Peter? Out of life?”

Peter blinks. Was this because he didn’t want to start some kind of conceited self-titled company? No offense to Octavius. “To help people, I guess?” he says.

Otto frowns. “What do you want for _yourself_?” 

Peter hesitates, his mind immediately jumping to MJ. Nope, wasn’t bringing that up, especially not to an ex-supervillain. Maybe a still-supervillain. “A… nice apartment?” he says weakly, shooting Octavius a half-smile.

Otto sighs. “They weren’t kidding when they said millennials have no ambition.”

Peter gives a small chuckle. “By ‘they’, I assume you mean Jameson?”

“Oh, you’ve had to listen to his mindless drivel, too?” Octavius says, shaking his head. “The guards love it.” He pauses, realizing something. “Wait, didn’t you work for the Bugle when Jameson was—“

“The chief editor? Yeah. Yeah I did.” Peter says with a snort. “Gotta tell you, he’s _just_ as bad to work for as you can imagine.”

Otto looks amused. Parker worked for the guy that spent hours every day ranting about Spider-man? How ironic. “I guess I’m the best boss you’ve worked for, then?” he says with a ghost of a smirk, slightly teasing Parker.

“Yeah. You are.” Peter says, completely sincerely.

The Doctor stares, taken off guard by Parker’s sincerity. God damn it. He really was so frustratingly perfect, wasn’t he? Sometimes he felt jealous, and sometimes he felt resentful towards Parker, but they all washed away in moments like these.

Peter glances away for a moment. Ack, he made things awkward, didn’t he? “By the way, how’s therapy?” he asks. In all honesty, he’d been wanting to ask that one since the beginning, but it felt rude to pop that one as the first thing to say. He didn’t want to act like he was just Otto’s caseworker, or something. 

Ah, right. “It’s not bad.” Octavius says evasively. “I don’t really know how much it can really help, but I’m going.” 

Peter lets out a breath. Oh, good. He was worried the Doc would quit after one session. “Cool.” he says, nodding a bit.

Octavius gives a curt nod in reply. Therapy wasn’t bad at all, and, admittedly, it was nice to tell someone how he really felt, and everything he had gone through. Someone besides his recorders.

“Time’s up.” the guard says.

Octavius and Parker look at each other for a moment.

“See ya next time, Doc.” Peter says, giving a little wave with his free hand. 

Octavius gives a nod in reply. “Yes. I suppose I’ll see you then.” he says mildly. 

The phones disconnect. Peter stands up, heading out, and a smile lingers on his face. This went better than he could’ve imagined. What changed things, made them so much... easier? Was it the therapy? Was it just time? Or was he just really good at making people like him? 

No, that last part was definitely not true. 

Still. _Something_ had happened. He didn’t know what, exactly. 

But it was progress.


End file.
